point at one but abuse another(zhǐ sāng mà huái)

point at one but abuse another

It's a Chinese idiom. The Pinyin is zh ǐ s ā NGM à Hu á I, which means to point at the mulberry tree and scold the locust tree. It means to scold this person on the surface but actually that person. From a dream of Red Mansions.

Analysis of Idioms

[synonym] point at the chicken and scold the dog, knock on the side, borrow a topic to play; [antonym] be outspoken, straightforward, name

Idiom usage

In Chapter 59 of a dream of Red Mansions, we made it up. Don't scold others. "The first three chapters of the story of officialdom:" only Mr. Wen met the commander and heard the gossip next door. He knew that the commander was pointing at the mulberry and cursing the locust. He was already angry. It is also called "pointing at chickens and cursing at dogs", "pointing at pigs and cursing at dogs" and "pointing at mulberry and locust trees".

The origin of Idioms

The 16th chapter of a dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin in Qing Dynasty: "which one of these housekeepers and grandmothers in our family is easy to entangle? If they make a little mistake, they will make fun of it. If they make a little mistake, they will complain about it. "

Historical allusions

During the spring and Autumn period, King Helu of Wu saw the art of War written by Sun Wu, a great military strategist. He admired it very much and immediately called Sun Wu in. The king of Wu said, "your art of war is so exquisite. Can you use the maids to do a small-scale drill, sir?" As soon as the beauties arrived at the military field, they saw the banners fluttering and the battle drums arrayed. They were laughing, looking around, careless. Sun Wu ordered 180 beauties to form two teams, and ordered the two concubines of the king of Wu as the team leader. Where did two love Ji do to lead a soldier's officer, just feel funny. It was not easy to put the sparse and noisy beauties in two rows. Sun Wu patiently and carefully explained the training essentials to these beauties. After that, he ordered that the instruments of torture be laid down in the military field. Then he said solemnly, "military training is no joke! You must obey orders. You must not be careless. If anyone violates military orders, they will be dealt with according to military law! " The beauties think that we are here to play games and don't want to meet such a serious person! At this time, Sun Wu ordered to beat the drum and began to practice. Sun Wu issued an order: "all turn right!" None of the beauties moved. On the contrary, Sun Wu was not angry and said, "the general didn't explain the main points clearly. It's my fault!" So he once again detailed the main points of the action, and asked: "do you understand?" All the beauties answered in unison: "I understand!" When the drum started again, Sun Wu ordered: "all turn left:" the beauties still did not move. They laughed more than last time. Seeing this scene, King Wu also found it interesting and thought: no matter how powerful your Sun Wu is, you can't let these beauties listen to you. Sun Wu lowered his face and said, "it's the general's fault that he didn't explain the main points of his actions clearly. It's the soldier's fault that he explained clearly, and the soldier's disobedience to the order is the soldier's fault. According to the military law, those who violate the military order will be killed, and if the team leader fails to lead the team, he should be punished first. Come on, push the two captains out and behead them! " Hearing this, the king of Wu was flustered. He quickly sent someone to Sun Wu and said, "the general is really good at using troops and has strict military orders. The king of Wu admired him very much. This time, please let go of my two concubines. " Sun Wu replied, "I will be outside, but you will not accept my orders. Since the king of Wu asked me to exercise the battle array, I will do it according to the military law. " As a result, the two concubines were beheaded, scaring all the beauties out of their wits. Sun Wu ordered the drill to continue. He ordered the first two beauties to succeed the captain in silence. when the drum sounded for the third time, all the beauties performed according to the rules and completed the drill task smoothly. When King Wu saw that Sun Wu had beheaded his concubine, he was not happy in his heart, but he still admired Sun Wu's ability to serve as a soldier. Later, with Sun Wu as the general, Wu finally made it into the list of powerful countries.

Examples of strategic warfare

On the surface, pointing to the mulberry and the locust is to point to the nail and point to the East and the west, but as a military strategy, its significance is more profound. It is the most effective suggestive means for the battle commander to "set an example to others and knock on the mountain to shake the tiger", so as to intimidate his subordinates and establish the authority of leadership. Generally speaking, as a military commander with virtue and credibility, he must be strict in law and discipline, be vigorous and resolute, be good at grasping one or two outstanding negative examples, and deal with them strictly, so that all officers and men can take warning. In the pre Han Dynasty, when Han Xin was "building the plank road in the Ming Dynasty", two shilling generals, fan Kuai and Zhou Bo, led more than 10000 people to finish building the plank road within three months. However, the previously burned plank road is more than 300 miles off and on, and the terrain is dangerous, so the repair project is very difficult. Tens of thousands of people worked hard day and night for more than ten days to complete a small section. The officers and soldiers did not know the real intention of building the plank road, so they complained. At the same time, Han Xin didn't come to the Han army for a long time, and his prestige in the army was not high. Many people were dissatisfied with his appointment as the general, especially the veteran general fan Kuai, who was full of complaints. He yelled: "it's very difficult to complete such a big project in a year, using 100000 labor force.". Seeing this situation, Han Xin's dignity in the military is seriously challenged, and the construction period will be extended, which will delay the aircraft. As a result, Han Xin categorically decided to dismiss fan Kuai, Zhou Bo and other leaders. There was no resentment or slackness after the earthquake in the army. The project of repairing the plank road was completed on schedule, which also made Han Xin's strategy of "sneaking through the Chencang and raiding Guanzhong" a victory in sight. 2. After King Zhuang of Chu gave preferential treatment to meritorious officials, Youmeng was a famous actor in the spring and Autumn period. He used to amuse himself with funny jokes, which won the favor of King Zhuang of Chu. Shortly after the death of sun shuao, the Prime Minister of the state of Chu, you Meng saw sun shuao's son cutting firewood on the mountain in the suburbs. Youmeng then realized that this virtuous Prime Minister died in depression, and his son was reduced to the point of living by cutting firewood. Youmeng is determined to help sun shuao's son tide over the difficulties. After some thinking, he specially made a suit of clothes that sun shuao usually wore and carefully imitated sun shuao's every move every day. One day, King Zhuang of Chu was having a banquet in the palace. Youmeng came over wearing sun shuao's clothes. When King Zhuang of Chu looked at him from a distance, he mistook sun shuao for resurrection. He was so surprised that he almost cried out. When he came near, he realized that it was you Meng. Recalling sun shuao's previous contributions, King Zhuang of Chu said with emotion to Youmeng, "if you have sun shuao's talent, I'd like to worship you as my prime minister." unexpectedly, Youmeng did not kowtow to thank him. Instead, he replied with disapproval, "what's the advantage of being prime minister? In the end, he can't even guarantee his son's livelihood!"; then he told King Zhuang of Chu about sun shuao's depression. After hearing this, King Zhuang of Chu woke up and ordered sun shuao's son to be called to the court. He was granted the title of Jin Jue and silk reward. From then on, sun shuao's son lived a rich life. You Meng didn't directly admonish the king of Chu Zhuang, but disguised himself as sun shuao to attack the king of Chu Zhuang, so that the king of Chu Zhuang understood the harmfulness of the practice of "people go to tea cooler", and thus helped sun shuao's son improve his living conditions. Youmeng's strategy of pointing the mulberry and cursing the locust was ingenious and moderate, which had a good effect. In the spring and Autumn period, Duke Jing of Qi appointed Tian Jue as general to lead the army to attack the Allied forces of Jin and Yan, and appointed Zhuang Jia, the favorite minister, as the supervisor. He and Zhuang Jia agreed to meet at yingmen at noon the next day. The next day, he arrived at the camp early and ordered to install the benchmark and drip tray as a timer. As soon as the appointed time arrived, he went to the barracks to announce the military order and reorganize the troops. But Zhuang Jia didn't arrive, so he sent someone to urge him several times. It was not until dusk that Zhuang Jia arrived at the camp gate with Zui Rong. When he asked why he didn't come to the barracks on time, Zhuang Jia didn't care. He just said that all my relatives and friends would come to hold a banquet for me, so I had to socialize, so I was late. He was very angry and scolded him for being a minister of state. He had the responsibility of supervising the army, but he only loved his family and did not attach importance to national affairs. Zhuang Jia thought that this was a trivial matter, and he didn't take it for granted because he was a favorite of the king. In front of all the officers and men of the army, he ordered a military judge to be called and asked, "what should be done according to the military law if we miss the time for no reason?" the military judge replied, "it's time to chop!" he immediately ordered Zhuang Jia to be taken down. Zhuang Jia was so scared that he trembled all over. His entourage rushed into the palace to report the situation to Qi Jinggong and asked him to send someone to help him. Before Jinggong's emissary arrived, he ordered Zhuang Jia to be beheaded. All the officers and men of the army trembled when they saw that the chief General had killed the minister who had violated the military order. Who would dare to disobey the general's order again. At this time, the envoys sent by Jinggong rushed into the barracks and took Jinggong's order to let Zhuang Jia go. He calmly replied, "I will be outside. I will not accept your orders." When he saw that the visitor was arrogant, he called the military judge again and asked, "what should be done according to the military law when running horses in the barracks?" the military judge replied, "it's time to chop." He was scared to the ground. "The messenger sent by the king can not be killed," he said So he ordered to kill his entourage and the third driver's left horse, and cut off the wooden pillar on the left side of the carriage. Then send the messenger back to report. He had a strict military discipline and a strong fighting capacity. As expected, he had won many battles. In 208 ad, Cao Cao's army approached Jiangling, intending to attack Sun Quan. Cao Cao said to Sun Quan: "I offer the emperor's life to fight against the criminal officials. Now that Liu Cong has surrendered and Liu Bei has also fled, I personally lead 800000 water troops to fight against the general. If it comes to me, it will save you from the disaster of blood. " In such an emergency, Sun Quan called together his officials to discuss the countermeasures. Some advocated demoting Cao, while others advocated resisting Cao, which made Sun Quan lose his mind for a while. At this time, before Zhuge Liang

Chinese PinYin : zhǐ sāng mà huái